As a floating transportation apparatus that transports an object such as a substrate used for a flat-panel display (FPD) in a state of being floated above a transportation surface, a substrate transportation apparatus described in the Patent Document 1 is known.
This floating transportation apparatus transports a substrate in the direction of transportation while floating the substrate as the object of transportation by blowing compressed air from transportation surfaces of arranged floating blocks. Here, to allow adjustment of respective heights and flatness of the floating blocks, the floating blocks are fixed on respective movable plates by screws, so that an interval between each movable plate and a fixed plate can be adjusted at three points.
In detail, a movable plate, which projects from both sides of the bottom of each floating block, has female threads at three positions in total. The fixed plate has female threads at positions opposite to the female threads of each movable plate, and a pitch of the female threads of the fixed plate is different from that of the female threads of the movable plate. Further, an adjust screw, which has male thread portions screwable into the female threads of the movable plate and the fixed plate, is screwed into each pair of opposite female threads in a state that the adjust screw is inserted in a spring placed between the movable plate and the fixed plate. A worker can adjust the interval between a movable plate and the fixed plate by inserting a tool between adjacent floating blocks and turning an adjust screw so as to increase or decrease the interval by the distance corresponding to the difference between the pitches of the female threads of both the plates.